Israel has positioned itself as a benchmark that other nations will measure themselves against as the economy starts to rumble past Covid, while much of the world is still under lockdown. Israeli tech was extremely strong in raising VC money in 2020 during the pandemic, to the tune of almost $10 billion according to an IVC and Meitar report. With those successes, many companies have been searching for opportunities for further growth. If there are two things that Israeli companies know how to do well, it’s to raise money and create opportunities during challenging times. That is why SPACs, which…
Author: zenger.news
If you suffer from constipation, it might be a sign of early Parkinson’s disease. Researchers from the Hebrew University of Jerusalem and Goethe University in Frankfurt, Germany, have hypothesized that constipation — a common although not usually discussed non-motor symptom of Parkinson’s — could predate diagnosis of the neurological disease by up to 20 years. That’s important because there are currently no therapies capable of stopping the progression of the Parkinson’s. However, if it is diagnosed early enough, scientists hope that certain therapies that have proved unsuccessful later on in the disease might work to at earlier stages. Parkinson’s involves…
SALT LAKE CITY — A chorus of boos greeted Sen. Mitt Romney (R-Utah) at a Republican Party state convention here in his adopted Utah last month — but for the former presidential hopeful and Mormon princeling, heckling from his party long ago lost the surprise factor. Video of a detractor calling him a “traitor” at the Salt Lake City airport went viral online earlier in the year, and in February, he met President Joseph R. Biden in the Oval Office, prompting online vitriol. As he entered the convention, he was waiting for a censure motion over his two votes to convict…
Paintings by Salvador Dali, Pablo Picasso and Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec, among other renowned artists, are expected to fetch millions at an auction in France this month. The sale will be held June 28-29 at the Artcurial auction house in Paris. Drawings by Paul Gauguin and Henri Matisse will also be up for sale, as well as Picasso’s ceramic plates and his oil painting titled “Le verre taille sur fond rose”(Cut glass on a pink background), estimated to sell for $667,000-$788,000. “Le verre taille sur fond rose” by Pablo Picasso, 1922. (Artcurial/Zenger News)Another Picasso painting, “Flûtiste assise et dormeuse” (Seated and…
KAMPALA, Uganda — When Ugandan President Yoweri Kaguta Museveni ordered the closure of schools and prohibition of non-essential travel between districts on June 6 to halt the recent spike in Covid-19 cases, James Tusubira was upset. “I am concerned about what will happen next term when my children return to school following the first lockdown [on March 30, 2020],” Tusubira, a parent of two children who study at Rich Dad Junior School, a private school in Kampala, told Zenger News. “When schools reopened in April, I was astonished when the school told us we would have to pay Shs1.2 million ($340)…
Israel has become the first country in the world to ban the sale of fur for fashion, effective six months from now, with a few exceptions. In a move hailed as historic by international animal welfare advocacy organizations, Israeli Environmental Protection Minister Gila Gamliel signed the amendment into law on June 9. “The fur industry causes the deaths of hundreds of millions of animals worldwide, and inflicts indescribable cruelty and suffering,” Gamliel said. “Using the skin and fur of wildlife for the fashion industry is immoral and is certainly unnecessary. Animal fur coats cannot cover up the brutal killing industry…
PERTH, Australia — Western Australia will outlaw gel blasters, going further than any other state in response to concerns about their resemblance to real firearms. From July 3, the blasters — which fire small gel balls — will be classed as prohibited weapons that no one can own. Anyone subsequently found in possession of a blaster will face a fine of up to AU$ 36,000 ($27,774) or three years’ jail. An amnesty period will apply until July 3, allowing owners to hand the blasters into police stations without penalty. Police Minister Paul Papalia says officers face an unreasonable situation when confronted by the…
NEW DELHI — After assisting filmmakers Christopher Nolan, Patty Jenkins, and Vishal Bhardwaj and making three short films, Los Angeles-based Manjari Makijany landed in India to build her debut feature film “Skater Girl”. Skateboarding entered the Olympics only this year and is still not a common sport in a cricket-crazed India. Manjari, however, revealed that she was excited to discover skate parks at more than one place in India, indicating the sport is gaining ground. “I had no idea about it,” Manjari told Zenger News. “When we discovered skate parks at more than one place, we went on this journalistic research…
CANBERRA, Australia — Families in Australia denied access to loved ones by the hard international border want the Morrison government to change the rules. The current definition of “immediate family” is being challenged by a petition to federal parliament on June 15 as Australians seek to be reunited with parents and so babies can meet grandparents. Signed by more than 70,000 people in just four weeks, the petition is presented by independent MP Zali Steggall, and Greens senator Nick McKim on behalf of the advocacy group Parents Are Immediate Family. “It’s been hard,” audiologist Sophie Robinson, with baby daughter Lucy, said. She moved to Australia three…
SYDNEY — Building work will begin on the south-eastern Australian state capital, Sydney’s newest city, by the end of the year, with more than AU$1 billion ($0.77 billion) promised in next week’s New South Wales state budget. Paddocks covered in the long grass will soon start being transformed into the city of Bradfield, which will be built on the doorstep of the new Western Sydney International Airport. The AU$ 1.15 billion ($0.89 billion) in funding announced on June 15 will be used primarily on basic infrastructure – including electricity, local roads, and sewerage – to lure private investors to the future city.…